Latest / Philosophy Library / The Enchiridion - Epictetus
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- 0:00Speaker 1: The Encarridian by Epictetus, translated by Percy Matheson, Chapter one.
- 0:08Speaker 1: Of all existing things, some are in our power, and
- 0:12Speaker 1: others are not in our power. In our power are thought, impulse,
- 0:17Speaker 1: will to get, and will to avoid, and in a word,
- 0:21Speaker 1: everything which is our own doing. Things not in our
- 0:25Speaker 1: power include the body, property, reputation, office, and in a word,
- 0:31Speaker 1: everything which is not our own doing. Things in our
- 0:35Speaker 1: power are by nature free, unhindered, untrammeled. Things not in
- 0:40Speaker 1: our power are weak, servile, subject to hindrance, dependent on others.
- 0:47Speaker 1: Remember then, that if you imagine that what is naturally
- 0:50Speaker 1: slavish is free, and what is naturally in others is
- 0:53Speaker 1: your own, you will be hampered, You will mourn, you
- 0:57Speaker 1: will be put to confusion, You will blame God's inn men.
- 1:01Speaker 1: But if you think that only your own belongs to you,
- 1:04Speaker 1: and that what is in other's is indeed in others,
- 1:07Speaker 1: no one will ever put compulsion or hindrance on you.
- 1:10Speaker 1: You will blame none, You will accuse none. You will
- 1:13Speaker 1: do nothing against your will. No one will harm you.
- 1:16Speaker 1: You will have no enemy, for no harm can touch you.
- 1:22Speaker 1: Aiming then at these high matters, you must remember that
- 1:25Speaker 1: to attain them requires more than ordinary effort. You will
- 1:28Speaker 1: have to give up some things entirely and put off
- 1:31Speaker 1: others for the moment. And if you would have these also,
- 1:35Speaker 1: office and wealth, it may be that you will fail
- 1:38Speaker 1: to get them, just because your desire is set on
- 1:40Speaker 1: the former, and you will certainly fail to attain those
- 1:43Speaker 1: things which alone bring freedom and happiness. Make it your study, then,
- 1:48Speaker 1: to confront every harsh impression with the words, you are
- 1:52Speaker 1: but an impression, and not at all what you seem
- 1:54Speaker 1: to be. Then tested by those rules that you possess,
- 1:58Speaker 1: and first by this the chief test of all. Is
- 2:02Speaker 1: it concerned with what is in our power or with
- 2:05Speaker 1: what is not in our power? And if it is
- 2:08Speaker 1: concerned with what is not in our power, be ready
- 2:11Speaker 1: with the answer that it is nothing to you. Chapter two.
- 2:18Speaker 1: Remember that the will to get promises attainment of what
- 2:21Speaker 1: you will, and the will to avoid promises escape from
- 2:25Speaker 1: what you avoid. And he who fails to get what
- 2:28Speaker 1: he wills is unfortunate, and he who does not escape
- 2:32Speaker 1: what he wills to avoid is miserable. If then you
- 2:36Speaker 1: try to avoid only what is unnatural in the region
- 2:38Speaker 1: within your control, you will escape from all that you avoid.
- 2:42Speaker 1: But if you try to avoid disease or death or poverty,
- 2:47Speaker 1: you will be miserable. Therefore, let your will to avoid
- 2:51Speaker 1: have no concern with what is not in man's power.
- 2:54Speaker 1: Direct it only to things in man's power that are
- 2:57Speaker 1: contrary to nature. But for the moment you must utterly
- 3:00Speaker 1: remove the will to get. For if you will to
- 3:03Speaker 1: get something not in man's power, you are bound to
- 3:05Speaker 1: be unfortunate. While none of the things in man's power
- 3:08Speaker 1: that you could honorably will to get is yet within
- 3:10Speaker 1: your reach. Impulse to act and not to act, these
- 3:15Speaker 1: are your concern. Yet exercise them gently and without strain,
- 3:20Speaker 1: and provisionally. Three. When anything from the meanest thing upwards
- 3:29Speaker 1: is attractive, or serviceable, or an object of affection, remember
- 3:34Speaker 1: always to say to yourself, what is its nature. If
- 3:38Speaker 1: you are fond of a jug, Say you are fond
- 3:40Speaker 1: of a jug, then you will not be disturbed if
- 3:43Speaker 1: it be broken. If you kiss your child or your wife,
- 3:47Speaker 1: say to yourself that you're kissing a human being, For
- 3:50Speaker 1: then if death strikes it, you will not be disturbed.
- 3:56Speaker 1: Chapter four. When you are about to take something in hand,
- 4:00Speaker 1: remind yourself what manner of thing it is. If you
- 4:04Speaker 1: are going to bathe. Put before your mind what happens
- 4:07Speaker 1: in the bath water, pouring over, some others being jostled,
- 4:11Speaker 1: some reviling, others, stealing. And you will set to work
- 4:15Speaker 1: more securely if you say to yourself at once, I
- 4:18Speaker 1: want to bathe, and I want to keep my will
- 4:21Speaker 1: in harmony with nature. And so in each thing you do,
- 4:25Speaker 1: for in this way, if anything turns up to hinder
- 4:27Speaker 1: you in your bathing, you will be ready to say,
- 4:30Speaker 1: I did not want only to bathe, but to keep
- 4:33Speaker 1: my will in harmony with nature, and I shall not
- 4:36Speaker 1: so keep it if I lose my temper at what happens.
- 4:41Speaker 1: Chapter five. What disturbs men's minds is not events, but
- 4:45Speaker 1: their judgments on events. For instance, death is nothing dreadful,
- 4:50Speaker 1: or else Socrates would have thought it so. No, the
- 4:54Speaker 1: only dreadful thing about it is men's judgment that it
- 4:56Speaker 1: is dreadful. And so when we are hindered or disturbed
- 5:01Speaker 1: or distressed, let us never lay the blame on others,
- 5:04Speaker 1: but on ourselves, that is, on our own judgments. To
- 5:08Speaker 1: accuse others for one's own misfortunes is a sign of
- 5:12Speaker 1: want of education. To accuse one's self shows that one's
- 5:16Speaker 1: education has begun to accuse neither one's self nor others,
- 5:20Speaker 1: shows that one's education is complete. Chapter six. Be not
- 5:28Speaker 1: elated at an excellence which is not your own. If
- 5:31Speaker 1: the horse in his pride were to say I am handsome,
- 5:34Speaker 1: we could bear with it. But when you say with pride,
- 5:37Speaker 1: I have a handsome horse, know that the good horse
- 5:40Speaker 1: is the ground of your pride. You ask, then, what
- 5:44Speaker 1: you can call your own. The answer is the way
- 5:47Speaker 1: you deal with your impressions. Therefore, when you deal with
- 5:51Speaker 1: your impressions in accord with nature, then you may be proud, indeed,
- 5:55Speaker 1: for your pride will be in a good which is
- 5:57Speaker 1: your own. Chapter seven. When you are on a voyage
- 6:04Speaker 1: and your ship is at anchorage, and you disembark to
- 6:07Speaker 1: get fresh water, you may pick up a small shellfish
- 6:10Speaker 1: or a shuffle by the way, but you must keep
- 6:12Speaker 1: your attention fixed on the ship and keep looking towards
- 6:15Speaker 1: it constantly to see if the helmsman calls you, And
- 6:19Speaker 1: if he does, you have to leave everything or be
- 6:22Speaker 1: bundled on board with your legs tied like a sheep.
- 6:25Speaker 1: So it is in life. If you have a dear
- 6:28Speaker 1: wife or child given you, they are like the shellfish
- 6:31Speaker 1: or the truffle. They are very well in their way.
- 6:34Speaker 1: Only if the helmsman call, run back to your ship.
- 6:38Speaker 1: Leave all else, and do not look behind you. And
- 6:41Speaker 1: if you are old, never go far from the ship,
- 6:44Speaker 1: so that when you are called you may not fail
- 6:46Speaker 1: to appear. Chapter eight. Ask not that events should happen
- 6:54Speaker 1: as you will, but let your will be that events
- 6:57Speaker 1: should happen as they do, and you shall have peace.
- 7:03Speaker 1: Chapter nine. Sickness is a hindrance to the body, but
- 7:08Speaker 1: not to the will, unless the will consent. Lameness is
- 7:12Speaker 1: a hindrance to the leg, but not to the will.
- 7:16Speaker 1: Say this to yourself at each event that happens, for
- 7:19Speaker 1: you shall find that though it hinders something else, it
- 7:22Speaker 1: will not hinder you. Chapter ten. When anything happens to you,
- 7:30Speaker 1: always remember to turn to yourself and ask what faculty
- 7:33Speaker 1: you have to deal with it. If you see a
- 7:36Speaker 1: beautiful boy or a beautiful woman, you will find continence
- 7:39Speaker 1: the faculty to exercise there. If trouble is laid on you,
- 7:44Speaker 1: you will find endurance. If rivalry, you will find patience.
- 7:49Speaker 1: And if you train yourself in this habit, your impressions
- 7:52Speaker 1: will not carry you away. End of chapters one through ten.
- 7:58Speaker 1: Chapter eleven. Never say of anything I lost it, but
- 8:03Speaker 1: say I gave it back. Has your child died it
- 8:08Speaker 1: was given back? Has your wife died she was given back?
- 8:13Speaker 1: Has your estate been taken from you? Was not this
- 8:16Speaker 1: also given back? But you say he who took it
- 8:20Speaker 1: from me is wicked? What does it matter to you
- 8:23Speaker 1: through whom the giver asked it back? As long as
- 8:26Speaker 1: he gives it, you take care of it, but not
- 8:29Speaker 1: as your own. Treat it as passers by treat an inn.
- 8:35Speaker 1: Chapter twelve. If you wish to make progress, abandon reasonings
- 8:40Speaker 1: of this sort. If I neglect my affairs, I shall
- 8:43Speaker 1: have nothing to live on. If I do not punish
- 8:46Speaker 1: my son, he will be wicked. For it is better
- 8:49Speaker 1: to die of hunger so that you be free from
- 8:51Speaker 1: pain and free from fear, than to live in plenty
- 8:54Speaker 1: and be troubled in mind. It is better for your
- 8:57Speaker 1: son to be wicked than for you to be miserable. Wherefore,
- 9:01Speaker 1: begin with little things. Is your drop of oil spilt?
- 9:05Speaker 1: Is your sup of wine stolen? Say to yourself, this
- 9:09Speaker 1: is the price paid for freedom com passion. This is
- 9:12Speaker 1: the price of a quiet mind. Nothing can be had
- 9:15Speaker 1: without a price. When you call your slave boy, reflect
- 9:19Speaker 1: that he may not be able to hear you, and
- 9:22Speaker 1: if he hears you, he may not be able to
- 9:24Speaker 1: do anything you want. But he is not so well
- 9:27Speaker 1: off that a rest with him to give you peace
- 9:29Speaker 1: of mind. Chapter thirteen. If you wish to make progress,
- 9:36Speaker 1: you must be content in external matters to seem a
- 9:39Speaker 1: fool and a simpleton. Do not wish men to think
- 9:42Speaker 1: you know anything. And if any should think you to
- 9:45Speaker 1: be somebody, distrust yourself. For know that it is not
- 9:49Speaker 1: easy to keep your will in accord with nature and
- 9:52Speaker 1: at the same time keep outward things. If you attend
- 9:55Speaker 1: to one, you must needs neglect the other. Chapter fourteen.
- 10:04Speaker 1: It is silly to want your children, and your wife
- 10:06Speaker 1: and your friends to live forever, for that means that
- 10:09Speaker 1: you want what is not in your control to be
- 10:11Speaker 1: in your control, and what is not your own to
- 10:14Speaker 1: be yours. In the same way, if you want your
- 10:18Speaker 1: servant to make no mistakes, you are a fool, for
- 10:21Speaker 1: you want vice not to be vice, but something different.
- 10:25Speaker 1: But if you want not to be disappointed in your
- 10:27Speaker 1: will to get, you can attain to that exercise yourself.
- 10:32Speaker 1: Then in what lies in your power. Each man's master
- 10:36Speaker 1: is the man who has authority over what he wishes
- 10:38Speaker 1: or does not wish to secure the one or to
- 10:41Speaker 1: take away the other. Let him, then, who wishes to
- 10:45Speaker 1: be free, not wish for anything or avoid anything that
- 10:47Speaker 1: depends on others or else, he is bound to be
- 10:50Speaker 1: a slave. Chapter fifteen. Remember that you must behave in
- 10:59Speaker 1: life as you would at a banquet. A dish is
- 11:02Speaker 1: handed round and comes to you. Put out your hand
- 11:05Speaker 1: and take it politely it passes you, do not stop it.
- 11:10Speaker 1: It has not reached you. Do not be impatient to
- 11:13Speaker 1: get it, but wait till your turn comes. Bear yourself
- 11:17Speaker 1: thus towards children, wife, office, wealth, and one day you
- 11:21Speaker 1: will be worthy to banquet with the gods. But if,
- 11:24Speaker 1: when there are set before you, you do not take
- 11:26Speaker 1: them but despise them, then you shall not only share
- 11:30Speaker 1: the god's banquet, but shall share their rule. For by
- 11:34Speaker 1: doing so, Diogenes and Heraclitus and men like them were
- 11:38Speaker 1: called divine and deserve the name. Chapter sixteen. When you
- 11:44Speaker 1: see a man shedding tears and sorrow for a child
- 11:47Speaker 1: abroad or dead, or for loss of property, beware that
- 11:51Speaker 1: you are not carried away by the impression that it
- 11:53Speaker 1: is outward ills that make him miserable. Keep this thought
- 11:56Speaker 1: by you. What distresses him is not the event, for
- 12:00Speaker 1: that is not to stress another, but his judgment on
- 12:03Speaker 1: the event. Therefore, do not hesitate to sympathize with him
- 12:07Speaker 1: so far as words go, and if it's so chance,
- 12:10Speaker 1: even to groan with him, but take heed that you
- 12:13Speaker 1: do not also groan in your inner being. Chapter seventeen.
- 12:20Speaker 1: Remember that you are an actor in a play, and
- 12:23Speaker 1: the playwright chooses the manner of it. If he wants
- 12:25Speaker 1: it short, it is short. If long, it is long.
- 12:30Speaker 1: If he wants you to act a poor man, you
- 12:32Speaker 1: must act the part with all your powers. And so
- 12:35Speaker 1: if your part be a cripple, or a magistrate, or
- 12:38Speaker 1: a plain man, for your business is to act the
- 12:42Speaker 1: character that has given you, and act it well. The
- 12:45Speaker 1: choice of the cast is in Other's chapter eighteen, when
- 12:52Speaker 1: a raven croaks with evil omen, Let not the impression
- 12:55Speaker 1: carry you away, but stray away. Distinguish in your own
- 12:58Speaker 1: mind and say, these importance mean nothing to me, but
- 13:02Speaker 1: only to my bit of a body, or my bit
- 13:04Speaker 1: of property, or name, or my children or my wife.
- 13:09Speaker 1: But for me, all omens are favorable. If I will,
- 13:12Speaker 1: for whatever the issue may be, it is in my
- 13:15Speaker 1: power to benefit therefrom Chapter nineteen. You can be invincible
- 13:23Speaker 1: if you never enter on a contest where victory is
- 13:26Speaker 1: not in your power. Beware, then, that when you see
- 13:29Speaker 1: a man raised to honor, or to great power or
- 13:32Speaker 1: high repute, you do not let your impression carry you away.
- 13:36Speaker 1: For if the reality of good lies in what is
- 13:38Speaker 1: in our power, there is no room for envy or jealousy,
- 13:43Speaker 1: and you will not wish to be prie to her,
- 13:45Speaker 1: or prefect or counsel, but to be free. And there
- 13:49Speaker 1: is but one way to freedom, to despise what is
- 13:52Speaker 1: not in our power. Chapter twenty. Remember that foul words
- 13:59Speaker 1: or blow and themselves are no outrage, but your judgment
- 14:03Speaker 1: that they are so. So when anyone makes you angry,
- 14:07Speaker 1: know that it is your own thought that has angered you. Wherefore,
- 14:11Speaker 1: make it your first endeavor not to let your impressions
- 14:14Speaker 1: carry you away, For if once you gain time and delay,
- 14:18Speaker 1: you will find it easier to control yourself. End of
- 14:24Speaker 1: Chapters eleven through twenty. Chapter twenty one, keep before your
- 14:29Speaker 1: eyes from day to day, death and exile, and all
- 14:32Speaker 1: things that seem terrible. By death, most of all, and
- 14:36Speaker 1: then you will never set your thoughts on what is low,
- 14:39Speaker 1: and will never desire anything beyond measure. Chapter twenty two.
- 14:46Speaker 1: If you set your desire on philosophy, you must at
- 14:49Speaker 1: once prepare to meet with ridicule and the jeers of many,
- 14:52Speaker 1: who will say, here he is again, turn philosopher. Where
- 14:56Speaker 1: has he got these proud looks? Nay, put on no
- 15:00Speaker 1: proud looks. But hold fast to what seems best to you,
- 15:03Speaker 1: and confidence that God has set you at this post.
- 15:06Speaker 1: And remember that if you abide where you are, those
- 15:09Speaker 1: who first laugh at you will one day admire you,
- 15:12Speaker 1: and that if you give way to them, you will
- 15:14Speaker 1: get doubly laughed at. Chapter twenty three. If it ever
- 15:20Speaker 1: happened to you to be diverted to things outside so
- 15:23Speaker 1: that you desire to please another, know that you have
- 15:26Speaker 1: lost your life's plan. Be content, then always to be
- 15:30Speaker 1: a philosopher. If you wish to be regarded as one, too,
- 15:34Speaker 1: show yourself that you are one, and you will be
- 15:36Speaker 1: able to achieve it. Chapter twenty four. Let not reflections
- 15:43Speaker 1: such as these afflict to you. I shall live with
- 15:46Speaker 1: honor and never be of any account, for a lack
- 15:49Speaker 1: of honor is an evil. No one but yourself can
- 15:52Speaker 1: involve you in evil any more than in shame. Is
- 15:55Speaker 1: it your business to get office or to be invited
- 15:57Speaker 1: to an entertainment? Not? Where then, is the dishonor that
- 16:02Speaker 1: you talk of? How can you be of no account
- 16:06Speaker 1: anywhere when you want to count for something in those
- 16:08Speaker 1: matters only which are in your power, where you may
- 16:10Speaker 1: achieve the highest worth. But by friends you say, well,
- 16:14Speaker 1: lack assistance. What do you mean by lack of assistance?
- 16:18Speaker 1: They will not have cash from you, and you will
- 16:20Speaker 1: not make them. Roman citizens who told you that to
- 16:23Speaker 1: do these things is in our power and not dependent
- 16:26Speaker 1: upon others. Who can give to another what is not
- 16:29Speaker 1: his to give? Get them? Then says he that we
- 16:33Speaker 1: may have them if I can get them and keep
- 16:36Speaker 1: my self, respect, honor, magnanimity, Show the way, and I
- 16:40Speaker 1: will get them. But if you call on me to
- 16:43Speaker 1: lose the good things that are mine in order that
- 16:45Speaker 1: you may win things that are not good, look how
- 16:48Speaker 1: unfair and thoughtless you are, and which do you really
- 16:51Speaker 1: prefer money or a faithful, modest friend. Therefore, help me
- 16:57Speaker 1: rather to keep these qualities, and do not expect from
- 16:59Speaker 1: me actions which will make me lose them, But my
- 17:03Speaker 1: country says he will lack assistance so far as lies
- 17:07Speaker 1: in me. Once more, I ask, what assistance do you mean?
- 17:11Speaker 1: It will not owe colonnades or baths to you? What
- 17:14Speaker 1: of that? It does not owe shoes to the blacksmith
- 17:17Speaker 1: or arms to the shoemaker. It is sufficient if each
- 17:20Speaker 1: man fulfills his own function. Would you do it no good?
- 17:23Speaker 1: If you secured to it another faithful and modest citizen. Yes, well,
- 17:28Speaker 1: then you will not be useless to it. What place
- 17:31Speaker 1: then shall I have in the city, whatever place you
- 17:34Speaker 1: can hold while you keep your character for honor and
- 17:36Speaker 1: self respect. But if you are going to lose these
- 17:39Speaker 1: qualities and trying to benefit your city, what benefit I ask,
- 17:43Speaker 1: would you have done her when you attain to the
- 17:44Speaker 1: perfection of being lost to shame and honor? Chapter twenty five.
- 17:51Speaker 1: Has someone had precedence of you at an entertainment or
- 17:54Speaker 1: a levey or been called in before you to give advice?
- 17:58Speaker 1: If these things are good, you ought to be glad
- 18:00Speaker 1: that he got them. If they are evil, do not
- 18:03Speaker 1: be angry that you do not get them yourself. Remember
- 18:06Speaker 1: that if you want to get what is not in
- 18:08Speaker 1: your power, you cannot earn the same reward as others
- 18:11Speaker 1: unless you act as they do. How is it possible
- 18:14Speaker 1: for one who does not haunt the great Man's door
- 18:17Speaker 1: to have equal shares with one who does, or one
- 18:20Speaker 1: who does not go in his train, equality with one
- 18:22Speaker 1: who does, or one who does not praise him with
- 18:25Speaker 1: one who does. You will be unjust then and insatiable
- 18:29Speaker 1: if you wish to get these privileges for nothing without
- 18:32Speaker 1: paying their price. What is the price of a lettuce
- 18:36Speaker 1: an obol? Perhaps If then a man pays his obol
- 18:39Speaker 1: and gets his lettuces, and you do not pay and
- 18:42Speaker 1: do not get them, do not think you are defrauded.
- 18:46Speaker 1: For as he has lettuces, so you have the obol
- 18:48Speaker 1: you do not give the same principle holds good too
- 18:52Speaker 1: in conduct. You were not invited to someone's entertainment because
- 18:56Speaker 1: you do not give the host the price for which
- 18:58Speaker 1: he sells his dinner. He sells it for compliments, he
- 19:01Speaker 1: sells it for attentions. Pay him the price then, if
- 19:05Speaker 1: it is to your profit. But if you wish to
- 19:07Speaker 1: get the one and yet not give up the other,
- 19:10Speaker 1: nothing can satisfy you in your folly. What you say
- 19:14Speaker 1: you have nothing instead of the dinner. Nay, you have this.
- 19:18Speaker 1: You have not praised the man you do not want
- 19:20Speaker 1: to praise. You have not had to bear with the
- 19:23Speaker 1: insults of his door step. Chapter twenty six. It is
- 19:29Speaker 1: in our power to discover the will of nature from
- 19:31Speaker 1: those matters on which we have no difference of opinion.
- 19:35Speaker 1: For instance, when another man's slave has broken the wine cup,
- 19:38Speaker 1: we are very ready to say at once such things
- 19:41Speaker 1: must happen. Know then, that when your own cup is broken,
- 19:45Speaker 1: you ought to behave in the same way as when
- 19:47Speaker 1: your neighbors was broken. Apply the same principle to higher matters.
- 19:52Speaker 1: Is another's child or wife dead not one of us,
- 19:55Speaker 1: but would say, such as the lot of man. But
- 19:58Speaker 1: when one's own dies straightway, one cries alas miserable, am I?
- 20:04Speaker 1: But we ought to remember what our feelings are when
- 20:06Speaker 1: we hear it of another Chapter twenty seven, as a
- 20:12Speaker 1: mark is not set up for men to miss it.
- 20:16Speaker 1: So there is nothing intrinsically evil in the world. Chapter
- 20:21Speaker 1: twenty eight. If anyone trusted your body to the first
- 20:25Speaker 1: man he met, you would be indignant. But yet you
- 20:28Speaker 1: trust your mind to the chance corner, and allow it
- 20:31Speaker 1: to be disturbed and confounded. If he revile you, are
- 20:34Speaker 1: you not ashamed to do so? Chapter twenty nine. In
- 20:41Speaker 1: everything you do, consider what comes first and what follows,
- 20:45Speaker 1: and so approach it. Otherwise you will come to it
- 20:49Speaker 1: with a good heart at first because you have not
- 20:51Speaker 1: reflected on any of the consequences. And afterwards, when difficulties
- 20:55Speaker 1: have appeared, you will desist to your shame. Do you
- 20:59Speaker 1: wish to win at a line, so do I, by
- 21:01Speaker 1: the gods, for it is a fine thing. But consider
- 21:05Speaker 1: the first steps to it and the consequences, and so
- 21:08Speaker 1: lay your hand to the work. You must submit to discipline,
- 21:12Speaker 1: eat to order, touch no sweets, train under compulsion at
- 21:16Speaker 1: a fixed hour, in heat and cold. Drink no cold
- 21:19Speaker 1: water nor wine except by order. You must hand yourself
- 21:23Speaker 1: over completely to your trainer, as you would to a physician.
- 21:26Speaker 1: And then when the contest comes, you must risk getting
- 21:28Speaker 1: hacked and sometimes dislocate your hand, twist your ankle, swallow
- 21:32Speaker 1: plenty of sand, sometimes get a flogging, and with all
- 21:35Speaker 1: this suffer defeat. When you have considered all this well,
- 21:40Speaker 1: then enter on the athlete's course if you still wish it.
- 21:44Speaker 1: If you act without thought, you will be behaving like
- 21:46Speaker 1: children who one day play at wrestlers, another day at gladiators.
- 21:51Speaker 1: Now sound the trumpet, and next start the stage like them.
- 21:55Speaker 1: You will be now an athlete, now a gladiator. Then
- 21:58Speaker 1: order then philosophy, but nothing with all your soul. Like
- 22:03Speaker 1: an ape, you imitate every site you see, and one
- 22:06Speaker 1: thing after another takes your fancy. When you undertake a thing,
- 22:10Speaker 1: you do it casually and half heartedly, instead of considering
- 22:13Speaker 1: it and looking at it all round. In the same way,
- 22:16Speaker 1: some people, when they see a philosopher and hear a
- 22:19Speaker 1: man speaking like euphrates, and indeed who can speak as
- 22:23Speaker 1: he can, wish to be philosophers themselves. Man, consider first
- 22:28Speaker 1: what it is you are undertaking. Then look at your
- 22:31Speaker 1: own powers and see if you can bear it. Do
- 22:34Speaker 1: you want to compete in the pentathlon or in wrestling?
- 22:38Speaker 1: Look to your arms, your thighs, see what your loins
- 22:40Speaker 1: are like. For different men are born for different tasks.
- 22:45Speaker 1: Do you suppose that if you do this you can
- 22:46Speaker 1: live as you do now, eat and drink as you
- 22:49Speaker 1: do now, indulge desire and discontent just as before. Nay,
- 22:54Speaker 1: you must sit up late, work hard, abandon your own people,
- 22:58Speaker 1: be looked down on by a mere slave, be ridiculed
- 23:01Speaker 1: by those who meet you, get the worst of it
- 23:03Speaker 1: in everything, in honor, in office, in justice, in every
- 23:07Speaker 1: possible thing. This is what you have to consider, whether
- 23:11Speaker 1: you are willing to pay this price for peace of mind, freedom, tranquility.
- 23:17Speaker 1: If not, do not come near. Do not be like
- 23:20Speaker 1: the children. First a philosopher, then a tax collector, than
- 23:24Speaker 1: an orator, than one of Caesar's procurators. These callings do
- 23:28Speaker 1: not agree. You must be one man, good or bad.
- 23:33Speaker 1: You must develop either your governing principle or your outward endowments.
- 23:37Speaker 1: You must study either your inner man or outward things.
- 23:41Speaker 1: In a word, you must choose between the position of
- 23:44Speaker 1: a philosopher and that of a mere outsider. Chapter thirty.
- 23:51Speaker 1: Appropriate acts are in general measured by the relations they
- 23:54Speaker 1: are concerned with. He is your father. This means you
- 23:58Speaker 1: are called on to take care of him, give way
- 24:01Speaker 1: to him in all things, bear with him if he
- 24:03Speaker 1: reviles or strikes you. But he is a bad father,
- 24:07Speaker 1: Well have you not any natural claim to a good father? No,
- 24:11Speaker 1: only to a father My brother wrongs me. Be careful, then,
- 24:16Speaker 1: to maintain the relation you hold to him, And do
- 24:19Speaker 1: not consider what he does, but what you must do
- 24:21Speaker 1: if your purpose is to keep in accord with nature,
- 24:25Speaker 1: for no one shall harm you without your consent. You
- 24:28Speaker 1: will only be harmed when you think you are harmed.
- 24:32Speaker 1: You will only discover what is proper to expect from neighbor, citizen,
- 24:36Speaker 1: or praetor if you get into the habit of looking
- 24:39Speaker 1: at the relations implied by each end of chapters twenty
- 24:45Speaker 1: one through thirty Chapter thirty one, for piety towards the Gods,
- 24:51Speaker 1: know that the most important thing is this, to have
- 24:54Speaker 1: right opinions about them, that they exist, and that they
- 24:57Speaker 1: govern the universe well and justly, and to have set
- 25:00Speaker 1: yourself to obey them, and to give way to all
- 25:03Speaker 1: that happens following events with a free will, in the
- 25:06Speaker 1: belief that they are fulfilled by the highest mind. For
- 25:09Speaker 1: thus you will never blame the gods nor accuse them
- 25:12Speaker 1: of neglecting you. But this you cannot achieve unless you
- 25:16Speaker 1: apply your conception of good and evil to those things
- 25:19Speaker 1: only which are in our power, and not to those
- 25:21Speaker 1: which are out of our power. If you apply your
- 25:25Speaker 1: notion of good or evil to the latter, then as
- 25:28Speaker 1: soon as you fail to get what you will to get,
- 25:30Speaker 1: or fail to avoid what you will to avoid, you
- 25:33Speaker 1: will be bound to blame and hate those you hold
- 25:35Speaker 1: responsible for. Every living creature has a natural tendency to
- 25:38Speaker 1: avoid and shun what seems harmful and all that causes it,
- 25:42Speaker 1: and to pursue and admire what is helpful and all
- 25:45Speaker 1: that causes it. It is not possible, then, for one
- 25:48Speaker 1: who thinks he is harmed, to take pleasure in what
- 25:50Speaker 1: he thinks is the author of the harm, any more
- 25:52Speaker 1: than to take pleasure in the harm itself. That is
- 25:55Speaker 1: why a father is reviled by his son when he
- 25:58Speaker 1: does not give his son a share of what the
- 25:59Speaker 1: son regards as good things. Thus, polynices and ethiocles were
- 26:04Speaker 1: set at enemony with one another by thinking that a
- 26:06Speaker 1: king's throne was a good thing. That is why the
- 26:09Speaker 1: farmer and the sailor, and the merchant, and those who
- 26:13Speaker 1: lose wife for children revile the gods. For men's religion
- 26:17Speaker 1: is bound up with their interest. Therefore, he who makes
- 26:20Speaker 1: it his concern rightly to direct his will to get
- 26:23Speaker 1: and his will to avoid, is thereby making piety his concern.
- 26:27Speaker 1: But it is proper on each occasion to make libation
- 26:30Speaker 1: and sacrifice, and to offer first fruits according to the
- 26:33Speaker 1: custom of our fathers, with purity and not in slovenly
- 26:36Speaker 1: or careless fashion, without meanness, and without extravagance Chapter thirty two.
- 26:44Speaker 1: When you make use of prophecy, remember that while you
- 26:47Speaker 1: know not what the issue will be, but are come
- 26:49Speaker 1: to learn it from the Prophet, you do know before
- 26:52Speaker 1: you come what manner of thing it is if you
- 26:55Speaker 1: are really a philosopher. For if the event is not
- 26:58Speaker 1: in our control, it cannot be either good or evil. Therefore,
- 27:03Speaker 1: do not bring with you to the Propheit the will
- 27:04Speaker 1: to get or the will to avoid, and do not
- 27:07Speaker 1: approach him with trembling, but with your mind made up
- 27:10Speaker 1: that the whole issue is indifferent and does not affect you,
- 27:14Speaker 1: and that wherever it be, it will be in your
- 27:16Speaker 1: power to make good use of it, and no one
- 27:19Speaker 1: shall hinder this. With confidence, then approach the gods as counselors.
- 27:24Speaker 1: And further, when the council has given you, remember whose
- 27:28Speaker 1: counsel it is and whom you will be disregarding if
- 27:31Speaker 1: you disobey and consult the oracle. As Socrates thought, men
- 27:34Speaker 1: should only when the whole question turns upon the issue
- 27:37Speaker 1: of events, and neither reason nor any art of man
- 27:40Speaker 1: provides opportunities for discovering what lies before you. Therefore, when
- 27:45Speaker 1: it is your duty to risk your life with friend
- 27:47Speaker 1: or country, do not ask the oracle whether you should
- 27:50Speaker 1: risk your life. For if the prophet warns you that
- 27:53Speaker 1: the sacrifice is unfavorable, though it is plain that this
- 27:56Speaker 1: means death or exile, or injury to some part of
- 27:58Speaker 1: your body. Yet reason requires that even at this cost,
- 28:02Speaker 1: you must stand by your friend and share your country's danger. Wherefore,
- 28:07Speaker 1: pay heed to the greater prophet Pythion Apollo, who cast
- 28:11Speaker 1: out of his temple the man who did not help
- 28:13Speaker 1: his friend when he was being killed. Chapter thirty three.
- 28:19Speaker 1: Lay down for yourself from the first a definite stamp
- 28:22Speaker 1: and style of conduct which you will maintain when you
- 28:24Speaker 1: are alone and also in the society of men. Be
- 28:28Speaker 1: silent for the most part, or if you speak, say
- 28:32Speaker 1: only what is necessary, and in a few words, talk
- 28:36Speaker 1: but rarely if occasion calls you. But do not talk
- 28:39Speaker 1: of ordinary things, of gladiators or horse races, or athletes,
- 28:44Speaker 1: or of meats or drinks. These are topics that arise everywhere.
- 28:47Speaker 1: But above all, do not talk about men in blame
- 28:50Speaker 1: or compliments or comparison. If you can turn the conversation
- 28:55Speaker 1: of your company by your talk to some fitting subject.
- 28:58Speaker 1: But if you should chance to be isolated amongst strangers,
- 29:01Speaker 1: be silent. Do not laugh much, nor at many things,
- 29:07Speaker 1: nor without restraint. Refuse to take oaths altogether, if that
- 29:12Speaker 1: be possible, but if not, as far as circumstances allow.
- 29:18Speaker 1: Refuse the entertainments of strangers and the vulgar. But if
- 29:22Speaker 1: occasion arise to accept them, then strain every nerve to
- 29:25Speaker 1: avoid lapsing into the state of the vulgar. For know
- 29:28Speaker 1: that if your comrade have a stain on him, he
- 29:31Speaker 1: that associates with him must needs share the stain, even
- 29:34Speaker 1: though he be clean in himself. For your body, take
- 29:40Speaker 1: just so much as your baar need requires, such as food, drink, clothing,
- 29:44Speaker 1: house servants. But cut down all that tends to luxury
- 29:48Speaker 1: and outward show. Avoid impurity to the utmost of your
- 29:54Speaker 1: power before marriage, and if you indulge your passion, let
- 29:58Speaker 1: it be done lawfully. Do not be offensive or censorious
- 30:01Speaker 1: to those who indulge it, and do not be always
- 30:04Speaker 1: bringing up your own chastity. If someone tells you that
- 30:07Speaker 1: so and so speaks ill of you, do not defend
- 30:10Speaker 1: yourself against what he says, but answer he did not
- 30:13Speaker 1: know my other faults, or he would not have mentioned
- 30:16Speaker 1: these alone. It is not necessary, for the most part
- 30:19Speaker 1: to go to the games. But if you should have
- 30:21Speaker 1: vacasion to go, show that your first concern is for yourself.
- 30:25Speaker 1: That is wish that only to happen, which does happen
- 30:28Speaker 1: in him, only to win who does win? For so
- 30:31Speaker 1: you will suffer no hindrance. But refrain entirely from applause
- 30:35Speaker 1: or ridicule or prolonged excitement. And when you go away,
- 30:39Speaker 1: do not talk much of what happened there, except so
- 30:42Speaker 1: far as it tends to your improvement. For to talk
- 30:45Speaker 1: about it implies that the spectacle excited your wonder. Do
- 30:48Speaker 1: not go lightly or casually to hear lectures. But if
- 30:51Speaker 1: you do go, maintain your gravity and dignity, and do
- 30:55Speaker 1: not make yourself offensive. When you are going to meet anyone,
- 30:59Speaker 1: and particularly some man of reputed eminence, set before your
- 31:03Speaker 1: mind the thought what would Socrates or Zeno have done?
- 31:07Speaker 1: And you will not fail to make proper use of
- 31:08Speaker 1: the occasion. When you go to visit some great man,
- 31:13Speaker 1: prepare your mind by thinking that you will not find
- 31:15Speaker 1: him in that you will be shut out, that the
- 31:18Speaker 1: doors will be slammed in your face, that he will
- 31:20Speaker 1: pay no heed to you. And if in spite of
- 31:23Speaker 1: all this you find it fitting for you to go,
- 31:25Speaker 1: go and bear what happens, and never say to yourself
- 31:29Speaker 1: it was not worth all this, for that shows a
- 31:31Speaker 1: vulgar mind and one at odds with outward things. In
- 31:36Speaker 1: your conversation, avoid frequent and disapportionate mention of your own
- 31:40Speaker 1: doings or adventures, for other people. Do not take the
- 31:43Speaker 1: same pleasure in hearing what has happened to you as
- 31:45Speaker 1: you take in recounting your adventures. Avoid raising men's laughter,
- 31:51Speaker 1: for it is a habit that easily slips into vulgarity,
- 31:54Speaker 1: and it may well suffice to lessen your neighbour's respect.
- 31:58Speaker 1: It is dangerous, too to lie into foul language when
- 32:02Speaker 1: anything of the kind occurs. Rebuke the offender, if the
- 32:05Speaker 1: occasion allow, and if not, make it plain to him
- 32:08Speaker 1: by your silence or a blush or a frown that
- 32:11Speaker 1: you are angry at his words Chapter thirty four. When
- 32:17Speaker 1: you imagine some pleasure, beware that it does not carry
- 32:20Speaker 1: you away like other imaginations. Wait awhile and give yourself. Pause. Next,
- 32:26Speaker 1: remember two things, how long you will enjoy the pleasure,
- 32:31Speaker 1: and also how long you will afterwards repent and revile
- 32:34Speaker 1: yourself and set on the other side the joy and
- 32:37Speaker 1: self satisfaction you will feel if you refrain, And if
- 32:41Speaker 1: the moment seems come to realize it, take heed that
- 32:44Speaker 1: you be not overcome by the winning, sweetness and attraction
- 32:47Speaker 1: of it. Set in the other scale the thought, how
- 32:50Speaker 1: much better is the consciousness of having vanquished it? Chapter
- 32:55Speaker 1: thirty five. When you do a thing because you have
- 32:59Speaker 1: determined that it all to be done, never avoid being
- 33:02Speaker 1: seen doing it, even if the opinion of the multitude
- 33:05Speaker 1: is going to condemn you. For if your action is wrong,
- 33:08Speaker 1: then avoid doing it altogether. But if it is right,
- 33:11Speaker 1: why do you fear those who will rebuke you wrongly?
- 33:15Speaker 1: Chapter thirty six. The phrase is it is day and
- 33:20Speaker 1: it as night mean a great deal if taken separately,
- 33:23Speaker 1: but have no meaning if combined. In the same way,
- 33:27Speaker 1: to choose the larger portion of a banquet may be
- 33:29Speaker 1: worth while for your body, but if you want to
- 33:32Speaker 1: maintain social decencies, it is worthless. Therefore, when you are
- 33:36Speaker 1: at meet with another, remember not only to consider the
- 33:39Speaker 1: value of what is set before you for the body,
- 33:41Speaker 1: but also to maintain your self respect before your host.
- 33:46Speaker 1: Chapter thirty seven. If you try to act a part
- 33:49Speaker 1: beyond your powers, you not only disgrace yourself in it,
- 33:53Speaker 1: but you neglect the part which you could have filled
- 33:55Speaker 1: with success. Chapter thirty eight. As in walking, you take
- 34:01Speaker 1: care not to tread on a nail or to twist
- 34:03Speaker 1: your foot, so take care that you do not harm
- 34:06Speaker 1: your governing principle. And if we guard this in everything
- 34:10Speaker 1: we do, we shall set to work more securely. Chapter
- 34:15Speaker 1: thirty nine. Every man's body is a measure for his property,
- 34:20Speaker 1: as the foot is the measure for his shoe. If
- 34:23Speaker 1: you stick to this limit, you will keep the right measure.
- 34:26Speaker 1: If you go beyond it, you are bound to be
- 34:28Speaker 1: carried away down a precipice. In the end, just as
- 34:31Speaker 1: with the shoe. If once you go beyond the foot,
- 34:34Speaker 1: your shoe puts on gilding, and soon purple and embroidery.
- 34:38Speaker 1: For when once you go beyond the measure, there is
- 34:41Speaker 1: no limit. Chapter forty. Women from fourteen years upwards are
- 34:48Speaker 1: called madam by men. Wherefore, when they see that the
- 34:51Speaker 1: only advantage they have got is to be marriageable, that
- 34:54Speaker 1: begin to make themselves smart, and to set all their
- 34:56Speaker 1: hopes on this. We must take pains then to make
- 34:59Speaker 1: them money. Understand that they are really honored for nothing
- 35:02Speaker 1: but a modest and decorous life. End of Chapters thirty
- 35:06Speaker 1: one through forty. Chapter forty one, It is a sign
- 35:10Speaker 1: of a dull mind to dwell upon the cares of
- 35:13Speaker 1: the body, to prolong exercise, eating, drinking, and other bodily functions.
- 35:19Speaker 1: These things are to be done by the way. All
- 35:22Speaker 1: your attention must be given to the mind. Chapter forty two.
- 35:28Speaker 1: When a man speaks evil or does evil to you,
- 35:31Speaker 1: remember that he does or says it because he thinks
- 35:34Speaker 1: it is fitting for him. It is not possible for
- 35:37Speaker 1: him to follow what seems good to you, but only
- 35:40Speaker 1: what seems good to him, so that if his opinion
- 35:43Speaker 1: is wrong, he suffers, and that he is the victim
- 35:46Speaker 1: of deception. In the same way, if a composite judgment
- 35:50Speaker 1: which is true is thought to be false, it is
- 35:52Speaker 1: not the judgment that suffers, but the man who is
- 35:55Speaker 1: deluded about it. If you act on this principle, you
- 35:59Speaker 1: will be gentle to him who reviles you, saying to yourself,
- 36:02Speaker 1: on each occasion he thought it right. Chapter forty three.
- 36:08Speaker 1: Everything has two handles, one by which you can carry it,
- 36:13Speaker 1: the other by which you cannot. If your brother wrongs,
- 36:16Speaker 1: you do not take it by that handle. The handle
- 36:19Speaker 1: of is wrong, for you cannot carry it by that,
- 36:22Speaker 1: but rather by the other handle. That he is a
- 36:25Speaker 1: brother brought up with you, and then you will take
- 36:28Speaker 1: it by the handle that you can carry by Chapter
- 36:32Speaker 1: forty four, it is illogical to reason, Thus I am
- 36:37Speaker 1: richer than you. Therefore I am superior to you. I
- 36:40Speaker 1: am more eloquent than you. Therefore I am superior to you.
- 36:44Speaker 1: It is more logical to reason, I am richer than you,
- 36:47Speaker 1: Therefore my property is superior to yours. I am more
- 36:50Speaker 1: eloquent than you. Therefore my speech is superior to yours.
- 36:55Speaker 1: You are something more than property or speech. Forty five.
- 37:01Speaker 1: If a man washed quickly, do not say that he
- 37:04Speaker 1: washes badly, but that he washes quickly. If a man
- 37:08Speaker 1: drank much wine, do not say that he drinks badly,
- 37:11Speaker 1: but that he drinks much. For till you have decided
- 37:14Speaker 1: what judgment prompts him, how do you know that he
- 37:17Speaker 1: acts badly? If you do as I say, you will
- 37:20Speaker 1: assent to your apprehensive impressions, and to none other Chapter
- 37:26Speaker 1: forty six. On no occasion call yourself a philosopher, nor
- 37:31Speaker 1: talk at large of your principles among the multitude, But
- 37:34Speaker 1: act on your principles. For instance, at a banquet, do
- 37:39Speaker 1: not say how one ought to eat, but eat as
- 37:41Speaker 1: you ought. Remember that Socrates had so completely got rid
- 37:45Speaker 1: of the thought of display that when men came and
- 37:48Speaker 1: wanted an introduction to philosophers, he took them to be introduced.
- 37:52Speaker 1: So patient of neglect was he. And if a discussion
- 37:55Speaker 1: arise among the multitude on some principle, keep silent for
- 37:59Speaker 1: the most part, for you are in great danger of
- 38:02Speaker 1: blurting out some undigested thought. And when some one says
- 38:06Speaker 1: to you you know nothing, and you do not let
- 38:09Speaker 1: it provoke you, then know that you are really on
- 38:11Speaker 1: the right road. For sheep do not bring grass to
- 38:15Speaker 1: their shepherds and show them how much they have eaten,
- 38:18Speaker 1: but they digest their fodder and then produce it in
- 38:20Speaker 1: the form of wool and milk. Do the same yourself.
- 38:24Speaker 1: Instead of displaying your principles to the multitude, show them
- 38:28Speaker 1: the results of the principles you have digested. Chapter forty seven.
- 38:34Speaker 1: When you have adopted the simple life, do not pride
- 38:37Speaker 1: yourself upon it. And if you are a water drinker,
- 38:40Speaker 1: do not stay on every occasion. I am a water drinker.
- 38:43Speaker 1: And if you ever want to train laboriously, keep it
- 38:46Speaker 1: to yourself, and do not make a show of it.
- 38:49Speaker 1: Do not embrace statues. If you are very thirsty, take
- 38:54Speaker 1: a good draft of cold water and rinse your mouth,
- 38:57Speaker 1: and tell no one Chapter forty eight. The ignorant man's
- 39:03Speaker 1: position and character is this he never looks to himself
- 39:06Speaker 1: for benefit or harm, but to the world outside him.
- 39:10Speaker 1: The philosopher's position and character is that he always looks
- 39:14Speaker 1: to himself for benefit and harm. The signs of one
- 39:18Speaker 1: who is making progress are he blames none, praises none,
- 39:22Speaker 1: complains of none, accuses none, never speaks of himself as
- 39:26Speaker 1: if he were somebody, or as if he knew anything.
- 39:29Speaker 1: And if anyone compliments him, he laughs in himself at
- 39:32Speaker 1: his compliment. And if one blames him, he makes no defense.
- 39:37Speaker 1: He goes about like a convalescent, careful not to disturb
- 39:40Speaker 1: his constitution on its road to recovery until it has
- 39:43Speaker 1: got firm hold. He has got rid of the will
- 39:46Speaker 1: to get and his will to avoid is directed no
- 39:49Speaker 1: longer to what is beyond our power, but only to
- 39:52Speaker 1: what is inner power, and contrary to nature. In all things,
- 39:57Speaker 1: he exercises his will without strain. If men regard him
- 40:00Speaker 1: as foolish or ignorant, he pays no heed. In one word,
- 40:05Speaker 1: he keeps watching guard on himself as his own enemy.
- 40:09Speaker 1: Lie in and wait for him. Chapter forty nine. When
- 40:14Speaker 1: a man prides himself on being able to understand and
- 40:17Speaker 1: interpret the books of Chrysippus, say to yourself, if Chrysippus
- 40:21Speaker 1: had not written obscurely, this man would have had nothing
- 40:24Speaker 1: on which to pride himself. What is my object? To
- 40:28Speaker 1: understand nature and follow her? I look then for someone
- 40:32Speaker 1: who interprets her. And, having heard that Chrysippus does, I
- 40:36Speaker 1: come to him. But I do not understand his writings,
- 40:39Speaker 1: So I seek an interpreter. So far there is nothing
- 40:42Speaker 1: to be proud of. But when I have found the interpreter,
- 40:45Speaker 1: it remains for me to act on his precepts. That,
- 40:49Speaker 1: and that alone is the thing to be proud of.
- 40:52Speaker 1: But if I admire the mere power of exposition, it
- 40:55Speaker 1: comes to this that I am turned into a grammarian
- 40:58Speaker 1: instead of a philosopher. Except that I interpret Chrysippus in
- 41:02Speaker 1: place of Homer. Therefore, when someone says to me, read
- 41:06Speaker 1: me Chrysippus, when I cannot point to actions which are
- 41:10Speaker 1: in harmony and correspondence with his teaching, I am rather
- 41:13Speaker 1: inclined to blush. Chapter fifty Whatever principles you put before you,
- 41:20Speaker 1: hold fast to them as laws which it will be
- 41:23Speaker 1: impious to transgress. But pay no heed to what anyone
- 41:27Speaker 1: says of you, for this is something beyond your own control.
- 41:32Speaker 1: Chapter fifty one. How long will you wait to think
- 41:35Speaker 1: yourself worthy of the highest and transgress in nothing the
- 41:39Speaker 1: clear pronouncement of reason? You have received the precepts which
- 41:42Speaker 1: you ought to accept, and you have accepted them. Why then,
- 41:46Speaker 1: do you still wait for a master that you may
- 41:48Speaker 1: delay the amendment of yourself till he comes? You are
- 41:52Speaker 1: a youth no longer. You are now a full grown man.
- 41:55Speaker 1: If now you are careless and indolent, and are always
- 41:58Speaker 1: putting off, fix seen one day after another as the
- 42:01Speaker 1: limit when you mean to begin attending to yourself, then
- 42:05Speaker 1: living or dying you will make no progress, but will
- 42:08Speaker 1: continue unawares in ignorance. Therefore, make up your mind before
- 42:13Speaker 1: it is too late. To live as one who is
- 42:15Speaker 1: mature and proficient, and let all that seems best to
- 42:19Speaker 1: you be a law that you cannot transgress. And if
- 42:22Speaker 1: you encounter anything troublesome or pleasant, or glorious or inglorious,
- 42:27Speaker 1: remember that the hour of struggle is come, the Olympic
- 42:30Speaker 1: contest is here, and you may put off no longer,
- 42:33Speaker 1: and that one day, in one action determines whether the
- 42:36Speaker 1: progress you have achieved is lost or maintained. This was
- 42:41Speaker 1: how Socrates attained perfection, paying heed to nothing but reason
- 42:45Speaker 1: in all that he encountered. And if you are not yet,
- 42:48Speaker 1: Socrates yet ought you to live as one who would
- 42:51Speaker 1: wish to be a Socrates, Chapter fifty two. The first
- 42:56Speaker 1: and most necessary department of philosophy deals with the application
- 43:00Speaker 1: of principles, for instance, not to lie. The second deals
- 43:05Speaker 1: with demonstrations, for instance, how comes it that one ought
- 43:09Speaker 1: not to lie? The third is concerned with establishing and
- 43:13Speaker 1: analyzing these processes, For instance, how comes it that this
- 43:18Speaker 1: is a demonstration? What is demonstration? What is consequence? What
- 43:23Speaker 1: is contradiction? What is true? What is false? It follows then,
- 43:28Speaker 1: that the third department is necessary because of the second,
- 43:31Speaker 1: and the second because of the first. The first is
- 43:34Speaker 1: the most necessary part, and that in which we must rest.
- 43:38Speaker 1: But we reverse the order. We occupy ourselves with a
- 43:42Speaker 1: third and make that our whole concern, And the first
- 43:45Speaker 1: we completely neglect. Wherefore we lie, but are ready enough
- 43:50Speaker 1: with the demonstration that lying is wrong Chapter fifty three.
- 43:56Speaker 1: On every occasion we must have these thoughts at hand.
- 44:00Speaker 1: Lead me, o Zeus, and lead me destiny whither ordain.
- 44:04Speaker 1: It is by your decree all follow, doubting not or
- 44:07Speaker 1: if with will recreant i falter i shall follow. Still Cleanthes,
- 44:15Speaker 1: who rightly, with necessity complies in things divine, we count
- 44:19Speaker 1: him skilled and wise. Euripides, Fragment nine hundred and sixty five. Well, creto.
- 44:28Speaker 1: If this be the God's will, so be it. Plato,
- 44:32Speaker 1: Credo forty three. D Anetas and Melidas have power to
- 44:38Speaker 1: put me to death, but not to harm me Plato Apology,
- 44:43Speaker 1: thirty six, end of chapters forty one through fifty three.